Just Like You
by shadowsareshared
Summary: Skylar Rodriguez is starting her senior year at Sky High. This year is going to be tougher than the last three-she knows that. But when three old enemies return, is she really prepared for what's to come?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first Sky High fanfiction. Reviews are really appreciated. Sorry if the plot is predictable and/or cliché.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sky high or any music referred to. All characters and lyrics belong to their rightful owners.**

_**Chapter 1**_

_Seventeen is just a test  
Yeah, and I would recommend  
That you live with no regret  
-The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus_

I sprinted towards my bus stop, wet hair flying everywhere and soaking my black singlet-which, thankfully wouldn't go see through. As I rounded the corner I saw two people I recognised. I slowed as I approached my two friends, Layla Williams and Will Stronghold. The redhead and the brunette were completely absorbed in their conversation and didn't notice me even as I dropped my heavy backpack on the ground. I started try to fix my waist length brown hair, hoping to get it neat and straight before it dried.

"I can't believe they're allowed to come back. They nearly destroyed the school." A snippet of their conversation caught my attention.

"Who's allowed back?" I asked turning toward the couple-Layla and Will had been dating since we were Freshman.

"Lash, Speed and Penny!" Layla exclaimed angrily. Will was also looking annoyed as he pulled at a string in his Red, White and Blue shirt- patriotic as per usual.

"Didn't they help Gwen Grayson or Sue Tenny-whoever she is- destroy the school?" I hadn't actually been there for the event. Some family issues had come up that had to dealt with immediately.

"Yeah." Will answered my question with a dark look.

"We stopped them though." Layla added.

"They're not going to be to happy then." I said more to myself then anyone else. "We'd better watch our backs."

As I was saying that a yellow school bus pulled up. The doors opened up and I quickly stepped up onto the bus.

"Morning Rodriguez." The slightly overweight bus driver greeted me, tipping his hat.

"Good morning Ron." I said absently as I looked for an empty seat. There were none so I made my way over to a bored looking girl. She had her hair purple streaked hair pulled up into two buns and her arms were crossed. However, when I approached her a small smile appeared on her face.

"Hey Sky." She greeted me moving her bag off the seat.

"Hey Magenta." I gave a small wave as I sat down next to my friend, accidentally whipping her with a bit of my wet hair.

"Urgh thanks." She huffed shoving my drying hair away from her. "I see you had swimming this morning."

"Yeah." I gave a guilty chuckle. "Sorry about that." I swum every morning, I just generally had time to dry my hair off before school.

"Pity Warren graduated." She joked. "He could of dried that off pretty quickly." Warren had graduated sky high last year and was no off saving the world-or at least Maxville. You see, Sky High wasn't a normal school, in fact it was anything but normal. It was a super school. Everyone who attended had special powers that made us 'heroes in training'.

"I would die before I let Warren torch my hair." I said with as much seriousness as I could manage.

Regrettably, that wasn't very much.

Magenta went to say something else but was cut off by the the seat belts clicker across our chests and a bar to hold onto appeared, resembling one that you would find on a roller coaster. There was no point in speaking now, the bus was soon going to be filled with the screams of Freshman as the bus plummeted off the end of an unfinished bridge, before taking off into the sky, where the school was located.

It _was _sky high after all.

* * *

I was sitting in class surrounded by the rest of the sidekicks-or 'Hero Support' as they were known. Everyone was filled with a mixture of nerves and anticipation, toady we would be issued a hero who we would have to work with for the rest of the year, and if things went well, the rest of our career. Everyone wanted to know who they would get. I was willing to bet majority of the class was hoping to get 'Will Stronghold, son of the Commander and Jetstream' or even Layla, who had been moved to hero class after showing her powers when defending the school. Personally though, I just didn't want Lash Speed or Penny.

"Alright class, attention please." My teacher, -aka American Boy-called out. Today you will be receiving your hero, who you will work and attend class with until graduation. The hero you get is final so there will be no switching." said smiling at us all. "I wish you all the best of luck for the rest of your time at Sky High." The way Mr. Boy said it made it sound as though we would never see him again, even though we would have to.

_'This will be our last time as a class of hero support.' _I thought to myself. _'Maybe we won't see him again.'_ He was afterall, the Hero support teacher. I found myself strangely sad about that.

"Your heroes will be here soon." Mr. Boy said awkwardly, as though there was something with that. "When they arrive they'll tell me who they were given by coach Boomer and you'll go the gym with them." The way Mr. Boy said it made us sound like a piece of property, not a particularly valuable one at that. I had thought the treatment of sidekicks would improve after some had saved the school, but no. The treatment of sidekicks hasn't changed. We're still weak and useless, or at least that's what heroes seem to think of us. We weren't useless though and if my hero so much as mouthed it I would prove to them who really was the weak one.

The bus ride this morning had tried my hair and it was now starting to frizz up. _'So much for staying straight.' _Fiddled with a strand of hair as I wait for my hero to arrive. The class was slowly emptying and Will and Layla had long since picked up their sidekicks-Will's being Zac and Layla's being Magenta. Lucky. Ethan had also left with his hero long ago, a short red haired boy with the ability to turn into a rock. There weren't many of us left now and I was starting to seriously panic, Speed and Penny had already got their sidekicks but Lash was still left. I started to fiddle with the gold key I wore on a chain around my neck, a nervous habit, as I waited for my partner-sorry, my _Hero_. We weren't equals in this.

"Skylar Rodriguez!" called out. I got up and slowly made my way towards his desk, not really looking where I was going. In hindsight, that was probably my first mistake.

I felt my foot catch on something and went flying to the ground, barely catching myself before I hit the ground face first. I looked up to see a tall skinny boy with brown hair falling in his eyes.

_'Oh no it's Lash. He's probably the worse person I could get! I could even handle Speed or Penny but Lash, I can't do that.' _I was panicking. My brain was working overtime as different thoughts cut themselves off. But all I said out loud was,

"It's you."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I'm actually in search of a beta at the moment because I'm pretty sucky at editing. I apologise in advance for any mistakes in this chapter. **

_**Chapter 2**_

_You say you're winning,  
Cause you're laughing.  
Well I'm crying crocodile tears.  
Just suck it up, and let it go.  
-All Time Low_

"Skylar!"Mr. Boy scolded, oblivious to the reason why I tripped. "That's no way to greet your Hero. Apologize to the poor boy."

_'Poor boy my arse! He's a criminal.' _I thought to myself annoyed before composing my features into a smile. "I'm so sorry, Lash." I said with false sweetness and what was probably a little too much sarcasm. "I was just a little bit annoyed because I fell over. I shouldn't of taken it out on you." The apology was killing me but I knew I had to do it if I wanted to stay on Mr. Boy's good side.

"That's OK _Skylar._" For some reason Lash found it necessary to put extra emphasis on my name, like I didn't know it or something. "I know you can't help your _clumsiness."_

_'You little shit. I am not that clumsy.' _I bit back my anger and forced a laugh. "Silly, uncoordinated me." I said with forced lightheartedness. Then I turned to Mr. Boy. "Can I please have my schedule ? I don't want to be late."

"Of course Skylar, here you go."He said, handing me the sheet of paper.

I didn't even look at it as I stalked out of the classroom. Calling out a "thankyou" as I left. I could hear Lash's stifled laughter as he followed me outside the classroom. As soon as we got outside the classroom and the door was safely closed Lash burst out laughing.

"That was so good!" He gasped out between laughs. "You should've seen your face! It was-"

"If you ever trip me again I will break your arm." I cut him of grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down to my height.

"Sure thing short stuff." He laughed removing my hand from the front of his shirt and flicking me in between the eyes before heading off towards the gym while laughing to himself.

I followed after him dragging my feet and grumbling to myself. "How did I get stuck with him...And I am not short!"

* * *

I tuned out Coach Boomer as I sat as far away from Lash as possible, which wasn't that easy because we were right at the edge. I leaned my head against the wall waiting for his speech to end. It was just all the same stuff we'd all already heard, 'We were a team' and 'one's success depended on the other'. It was a pointless speech really, if they were going to believe they already knew it and if they didn't know it, giving a boring speech wasn't going to change that. And I knew for a fact that Lash though he was the only one of us who was worth anything, which, sadly, in a superpowered fight, was most likely true.

It's not like I didn't have powers, because I did have them. I knew how to fight with them too. It was more of a refusal to use them. It wasn't because I didn't like my powers or were ashamed of them, because again that wasn't true. I just didn't like the person I inherited them from. My mother had the same powers as me, not that she ever used them. To be honest she was completely useless, and had been so ever since my Dad died. she was just so consumed by her grief that she completely forgot about my sister and I, like we weren't even there.

"Up sidekick! It's over." A voice interrupted my thoughts. I glared up at Lash.

"What do we have?" I asked him still sitting.

"Check it yourself. You're the sidekick, you're supposed to be helping _me_." He spat. Still just as disrespectful of sidekicks, even after getting his butt kicked by some.

"Sorry. I forgot we were more capable than heroes." I said getting up and shoving past him. "And don't call me sidekick like it's an insult."

I was almost out the door when I saw a flash of stripes. Without looking down I stepped on Lash's arm and made my way out the door.

"Nice try, sidekick." I heard being called after me. "But you're going to have to be _a lot _heavier for that to work"

_'Damn it.'_

* * *

I sat down in my usual spot between Magenta and Ethan. None of the others seemed particularly upset about their partners-none of them had reason to be. Even Ethan, who was the only other one of who didn't get a friend as their partner, had Larry. Larry, who admittedly was a bit of a creep, was still decent. Everyone sat around talking animatedly to each other, laughing and just having a good time in general. Normally, I would be completely involved in the conversation, laughing along with all my friends. Today though, I just didn't really feel into it.

Ethan seemed to sense my uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm. "You okay?" He asked me quietly, so that no one else would hear it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told him, smiling brightly. "Just a little tired, gotta get used to waking up early again." It was half true, I _was _tired and I _did_ have to get used to waking up early again-over the summer I had got to sleep in to a massive 5:40am. Huge sleep in, I know.

Ethan could tell that wasn't what was bothering me but he didn't press the issue, he was cool like that. That was probably what I liked best about Ethan, he could always tell when something was upsetting one of his friends, but never pressured you into telling him. There's a time and a place for everything, something Ethan knew very well.

Sometimes though, his observantness was a pain in the neck. I didn't want him to know something was wrong and start worrying about me so I threw myself into the conversation quickly, hoping my enthusiasm wasn't too obviously fake. It couldn't have been since no one else seemed to notice anything else was wrong.

Sometimes though, I still caught Ethan looking at me funny.

When the bell finally rang signalling the end of lunch I was quick to jump out of my seat. Actually, it was probably a little _too _quickly, considering the funny looks everyone gave me.

"Eager to get to class?" Will asked me, raising an eyebrow.

_'Quick, think of a lie.' _"I have mad science next, you know how much I love that." Okay, sucky lie, I _hated_ mad science, or, more correctly, mad science hated me. I was dreadful at it, and me even being the classroom was a danger. Hence why Professor Medulla and I had made an agreement at the start of my sophomore year, I didn't break anything and he wouldn't fail me. It was a good deal, and the reason why I didn't have to take remedial classes over summer.

Will looked at me like I had lost my mind before shrugging it off and heading off to class, Zach talking to him no stop about costume designs and whatever else. They were all used to my weird mood swings and high energy levels by now that they didn't even question them anymore. To them, as long I was still smiling I was happy, which was basically true.

And because I was basically always smiling, they never had to worry about me.


End file.
